inanimate victim

This photo was taken in the ' martyred village ' of Oradour-sur Glane in the Haut Vienne region of France. It was here on the 10th June 1944 that
a division of two hundred SS, retreating south, stopped and committed an act of terror. They plundered, set fire to the village and massacred
642 persons including 193 children. Only a few villagers escaped to tell the story.

General Charles de Gaulle decreed that the ruins of Oradour be preserved in order ' to bear witness for the rest of mankind of the
consequences of the barbarity of war '

Comments

This is a place that I do want to visit - I remember that you uploaded an image from here maybe a year ago. I'm glad you have kept this factual, straight reportage.
These were the opening words of the first episode of [i]The World at War [/i]series in 1974:
[quote]Down this road, on a summer day in 1944 The soldiers came. Nobody lives here now. They stayed only a few hours. When they had gone, a community which had lived for a thousand years was dead.
This is Oradour-sur-Glane, in France. The day the soldiers came, the people were gathered together. The men were taken to garages and barns, the women and children were led down this road and they were driven into the church. Here, they heard the firing as their men were shot. Then they were killed too. A few weeks later, many of those who had done the killing were themselves dead, in battle.
They never rebuilt Oradour. Its ruins are a memorial. Its martyrdom stands for thousands upon thousands of other martyrdoms in Poland, in Russia, in Burma, in China...[/quote]
Thanks for uploading this, people do need to be reminded from time to time how wonderful peace is.
Moira

This is a place that I do want to visit - I remember that you uploaded an image from here maybe a year ago. I'm glad you have kept this factual, straight reportage.
These were the opening words of the first episode of The World at War series in 1974:

Quote:Down this road, on a summer day in 1944 The soldiers came. Nobody lives here now. They stayed only a few hours. When they had gone, a community which had lived for a thousand years was dead.
This is Oradour-sur-Glane, in France. The day the soldiers came, the people were gathered together. The men were taken to garages and barns, the women and children were led down this road and they were driven into the church. Here, they heard the firing as their men were shot. Then they were killed too. A few weeks later, many of those who had done the killing were themselves dead, in battle.
They never rebuilt Oradour. Its ruins are a memorial. Its martyrdom stands for thousands upon thousands of other martyrdoms in Poland, in Russia, in Burma, in China...

Thanks for uploading this, people do need to be reminded from time to time how wonderful peace is.
Moira